


Love Is Like a Collection of Bruises in an Interesting Place

by misura



Category: Primeval
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, Pre-Canon, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-31
Updated: 2010-07-31
Packaged: 2017-10-25 22:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"I don't think you're supposed to give me another concussion."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Is Like a Collection of Bruises in an Interesting Place

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: _Nick/Stephen, weapons training_

Given how crowded the airport was at this time of day, it was probably a good thing Nick had brought the dinosaur. It might be big and kind of ugly, and people might look at Nick a bit strangely for having brought it, but as a means of drawing attention, it served very well.

"Typical," Stephen said. "I leave you by yourself for three months and find you cuddling with your new boyfriend. We could have tried that phonesex thing, you know."

Nick smiled faintly. "Not to split hairs, but I think it's a girl."

"How - no, on second thought, I don't think I want to know how you know that."

"It's purple," Nick said. "Nice and soft - perfect to cuddle with on cold and lonely nights. So obviously, it's a girl."

Stephen shouldered his bags. "Right. Remind me to remind you you said that next time we're going camping and you come crawling into my sleeping bag in the middle of the night."

"Oh, I lied," Nick said, taking one of Stephen's bags before Stephen could go all manly on him and claim he was perfectly capable of carrying it all by himself. "That was just about sex."

"We didn't _have_ any sex." Stephen frowned as Nick firmly grabbed another one of his bags. "You said you were afraid of getting frostbite."

"So anyway, how was the Amazon?" Nick asked brightly.

 

Stephen's side of the closet had used to be Helen's. Her clothes were packaged in two large boxes stored in the basement now, to make room for what Nick estimated to be about half of Stephen's wardrobe. Compared to Helen, Stephen was a clotheshorse - compared to Nick ... well, it was probably a good thing Stephen'd kept his own apartment as well.

"Is that a gun in your bag or are you really happy to see me?"

"Very original, Cutter." Stephen rolled his eyes and took the bag.

"Wasn't trying to be," Nick said. "Just wanted to let you know I'm glad you're home. I missed you."

"Is that a fact, or are you just trying to get into my pants?"

Nick snorted. "Been there, done that - was there a t-shirt you didn't tell me about? 'cause I don't think I got it."

"Only special people get the t-shirt." Stephen folded some of his shirts and put them on a shelf. "Sorry."

"Petty." Nick decided that yes, Stephen was going to play this game for as long as it amused him, which was probably going to be a lot longer than it would amuse _Nick_. Stephen liked to make him beg, and while normally, Nick didn't mind a bit of begging, provided he got something back for it, this time, he really wasn't in the mood. It had been a _long_ three months, and joking aside, a big purple plushie wasn't really much of a substitute for a lover.

Stephen shook his head. "It's a cruel world, Cutter."

"Lots of dangerous predators out there, or so I've heard," Nick said, casually walking over to where Stephen was now sorting his socks into pairs that matched, pairs that didn't match and pairs that had holes in them.

"You've got that right." Stephen still had his back to him; Nick figured it would be easy enough to simply grab him, trip him up, and then make sure they both landed on the bed. Once there, he figured even Stephen would get tired of playing games - he'd spent as much time as Nick had without any sex, after all, and Nick knew _he_ could barely keep his hands off Stephen as it was.

"So - " Nick started casually, intending to follow it up with some inane question or another when Stephen took a step backwards and Nick realized it was as perfect an opportunity as he was going to get to cut this conversation short and show Stephen just how much Nick had missed him with a hands-on demonstration.

The next thing he knew was the room turning upside down and sideways and the feeling of his head hitting the floor, which really was quite painful, so he was kind of glad when -

 

"Cutter? Can you hear me?"

His head felt kind of fuzzy. Nick blinked two, three times, before he got a clear view of Stephen peering at him worriedly. "What - " His voice sounded a bit hoarse. "What happened?"

"You got attacked by a large predator and I saved your life?" Stephen offered hopefully.

Nick started to shake his head, then decided he didn't like the way that made his stomach feel. "I don't think that's what happened. We were alone. I was trying to sneak up on you - "

"Yes, to have your wicked way with me, no doubt." Stephen's smile looked a bit weak. "Problem was: you were too slow."

"Oh." Nick knew Stephen had taken classes in self-defense, of course, in addition to the almost daily practice he put in at the local shooting range, although only Stephen knew how he managed to cram all that _and_ his job _and_ the spare time he spent with Nick into his week. "You knocked me out."

"By the time I realized it was you, I already had you on the floor with a mild concussion," Stephen confirmed, looking a bit sheepish. "Pure reflexes."

Nick considered. "That's going to be a problem," he said.

"You could just not try to sneak up on me," Stephen pointed out.

"I suppose I could, but where's the fun in that?"

"Or," Stephen said, "you could take some classes in self-defense, too."

It wasn't the first time he'd made the suggestion. "I teach classes about creatures that have been dead for millions of years. I don't need lessons in how to defend myself."

"What if I told you I know this great guy who's willing to give you private lessons?" Stephen said.

"I'd wonder if he was one of your exes," Nick said, a bit more tartly than he'd intended. "Is he?"

Stephen ignored him. "He's willing to come to your house - or to the University, if you like that better."

"I'm not going to invite one of your exes into my home." Last time had been - well, Nick certainly wasn't in any hurry to meet another one of Stephen's exes. The one he'd met had been rather intimidating - both in the sense that Nick had felt she could have killed him with her pinkie if she'd wanted to, and in the sense that she'd seemed so much ... more than he knew himself to be. More passionate, more beautiful, more humorous. She'd looked at him as if wondering what Stephen could possibly see in him, and for one moment, Nick had looked at himself and wondered the same thing.

"He won't even charge you anything," Stephen went on.

"I don't want to meet him," Nick said. "He sounds like a terrible person."

Stephen sighed. "I'm talking about me, you idiot."

"Definitely a terrible person, then," Nick said.

 

So. Self-defense classes. A lot less fun than Nick had kind of secretly expected them to be, given that this was Stephen, and given they were supposed to be touching each other.

"I don't think you're supposed to give me another concussion."

"Less talk, more focus," Stephen said. "You're supposed to fall in a way that protects your head."

"You could just not tackle me?"

Two seconds later, he was back on the floor. Yeah. He hadn't really expected that to work, anyway.

 

Next thing up: gun practice (because when Stephen did something, he liked to be thorough - which was something Nick could completely get behind when it was about scientific research or sex, but not so much when it was about him volunteering to get bruises in interesting places for the sake of acquiring skills he was probably never going to need).

"It's just point and pull the trigger, right?" Nick had done this a few times - not that he was about to tell Stephen that. If he still remembered anything useful, good for him, and maybe Stephen'd be impressed at how 'quickly' Nick had picked it up. If not, no harm done.

"There's also the part where you take the safety off."

Nick grumbled, took the safety off, braced himself (he remembered the bit about recoil, at least, although Stephen seemed to have forgotten to mention it) and pulled the trigger.

"Also not unimportant is the part where you actually hit the target," Stephen said dryly.

"I don't think you mentioned that bit," Nick said.

 

Nick thought he'd been polite about the whole business, really. He hadn't acted _enthusiastic_ , maybe, but, well, he hadn't _felt_ enthusiastic.

"You don't like it." Stephen did, most likely. Not trying to teach Nick, perhaps, but doing it himself? He wouldn't be Stephen if he didn't enjoy those things. Nick accepted that, had always accepted that.

Everybody needed a hobby. "I don't see the point." Few people needed Stephen's type of skills, though.

"So you want to quit?" Stephen sounded disappointed, like it meant something to him if Nick would say that yes, he could think of far better things to do with his time than get beaten up.

Nick sighed. "I guess we could keep going for a while. Maybe I'll get better."

Stephen smiled. "Nothing's impossible."


End file.
